Learning to Forgive
by Falling Innocence
Summary: Hope isn't your typical exchange student - she swears, screams whenever she wants, and gets a detention a week. But somehow, Harry and Draco both fall for her. Unfortunately, both have a secret that turns her world upside down. Can she forgive them?
1. Alexis's, or rather, Hope's Diary Entry

A/N: I wasn't going to post this yet, but the characters took over my mind and forced me to type it out and upload it. Please, be kind. I don't usually write this style, but after I wrote up my character descriptions, I realized that I would need to alter my fanfic writing style just a little bit and make it sound more like something out of my diary. (Don't ask.) But anyway, on with the story!  
  
Disclaimer: Alexis/Hope is MINE. Nobody else in there is mine. Oh wait, Tyler and Maddie are mine too. But that's it. I think. Wait...I don't know how to think. GREAT, NOW THE WRITER'S CONFUSED...  
  
'Why doest his always happen to me? Why? WHY?? I always end up falling for two guys at the same time. Always. It's pretty much a given. Introduce me to two guys and by the end of the week, I'm head over heels for both of them. And to make it worse, I'm one of those people who wear their hearts on their sleeves, so I might as well have a sign above my head that reads 'HOPE MATTHEWS LIKES HARRY POTTER AND DRACO MALFOY.' Yeah. Both of them.  
  
'How, you ask? Well, dear diary, if you'd just flip back a few damn pages to the last time I wrote in here, you'd know.  
  
'I don't mean to snap at you. It's just that I'm frustrated. I need to vent. I think I'll go lock myself in Myrtle's bathroom and scream. Loudly.'  
  
Sixteen-year-old Alexis Hope Matthews slammed her diary shut viciously, smiling grimly at the loud 'click' that the closing lock made. She then stood up and proceeded to follow through with her plan.  
  
"Myrtle, I need to let off some steam," she said as she entered the bathroom.  
  
Myrtle appeared, floating above her stall. "Again?" she whined, a look of annoyance flitting across her face. "But you just let off steam this morning!"  
  
"Yeah, yeah," Alexis muttered. To Myrtle, she said, "Well, I need to scream again, so if you'll excuse me, I'd like to be alone."  
  
"Oh, all right," Myrtle grumbled. "Can I come back to see you get yelled at?"  
  
"Whatever the hell your transparent little heart desires," Alexis replied in a sickly sweet yet sarcastic tone.  
  
Myrtle responded by sticking out her tongue and disappearing through the door.  
  
"Well, here goes," Alexis said, taking a deep breath. She then let out a long, high-pitched shriek. Several minutes later, Myrtle reappeared.  
  
"Boy, are you gonna get it," Myrtle said triumphantly. "Snape heard, McGonagall heard, and Lupin heard. They're all coming."  
  
Sure enough, McGonagall, Snape, and Lupin all came bursting into the bathroom a few seconds later.  
  
"I should've known," Lupin sighed upon seeing Alexis.  
  
"Alexis Matthews!! Explain yourself!" McGonagall ordered, looking sternly through her square-shaped spectacles.  
  
"Don't call me Alexis!" Alexis said crossly, glaring at them. "It's Hope!"  
  
"Hope, then. What is going on?" McGonagall asked, looking even more stern. Snape remained silent.  
  
Alexis (or Hope, as we must now call her or die), shrugged. "I felt like screaming."  
  
"Detention!" Snape said icily. "That's the fifth time this week!"  
  
"Really, Severus," Lupin objected. "I believe it's only the fourth."  
  
"No, you're both wrong," Hope put in. "This is the thirteenth time this week, but only the fifth time you've caught me."  
  
McGonagall sighed. "I'm afraid Severus is right. Detention."  
  
It was Hope's turn to sigh. That was how this whole thing started, wasn't it? With a detention. No, actually, it wasn't. It had started all because of that stupid foreign exchange student thing. If she hadn't come to Europe and that Parvati Patil or whatever her name was hadn't gone back to the States, none of this would've happened. She'd still be back with Tyler (her former crush) and Maddie, her best friend.  
  
Well, I'm here now, and for the rest of this year and next year, she reminded herself. Better get used to it. 


	2. Back In Good Ol' Sunny California

A/N: Please be nice and review this, even if it is just a one-line review. They make me feel loved and appreciated. And if you like this, check out some of my other stuff, please. And review that, too. Mark-of-love, no, I don't mind if you use the foreign exchange student idea, just don't steal this from me completely, otherwise I'll have to hunt you down and torture you, then kill you slowly...heh heh  
  
Disclaimer: I own Hope, Tyler, Maddie, Professor McKenzie, Tarmenia, Tiar, and Algeana. You don't. You don't own your mind or your thoughts, either...heh heh  
  
"ALEXIS!!!!"  
  
Hope rolled over and looked at her bedside clock. "MADELINE ROBERTS!!! HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU NOT TO CALL ME ALEXIS??" she yelled. She pushed aside the deep blue velvet curtains surrounding her bed, letting in the bright California sunshine.  
  
"Fine, HOPE. Get up! It's eleven o' clock, ya lazy bum!" A short girl with extremely short blonde hair and green cat eyes yanked Hope's covers rudely off her. "Come on, Tyler's going to cry if you miss his Quidditch match."  
  
Hope sat up quickly, brushing her long brown hair out of her face. "Ohmigod, you're right!" she shrieked, faking a look of despair. She snorted. "Yeah, right! Tyler doesn't even know I'm alive, Mad."  
  
"Now that's the biggest lie in the world," Maddie said, rolling her eyes. "You're his best friend! Every single girl in the whole Tarmenia Academy would love to trade places with you, excluding myself. Now GET UP!!!"  
  
Twenty minutes later, Hope and Maddie were on their way down to the Quidditch field. It was hot - the thermometer on Maddie's wristwatch said 102 degrees already.  
  
"So, you think Tiar's going to win today?" Maddie asked, fanning herself with her hand.  
  
"Duh," was Hope's sarcastic reply. "We've won every other damn match so far."  
  
"We've only played in two matches," Maddie reminded her.  
  
"And we won both of them! Geeze, you dolt!"  
  
A passing first-year girl looked at them as if she was expecting them to eat her.  
  
"What're you looking at?" Maddie demanded. "Mind your own business!"  
  
The girl fairly ran up the walk to the main building, which was fashioned to be like a huge, spacious hotel. Hope loved it - there was a pool, and each student got their own room.  
  
"Some students frighten so easily," Maddie said, her green eyes watching the girl with scorn. "For some reason, none of them can understand our friendship."  
  
"There are times when I can see why," Hope said sensibly. Maddie nodded in agreement and the two walked in silence, finally reaching the Quidditch field.  
  
Tiar won the game, 320 to 10.  
  
"Pretty pitiful for them," Maddie remarked, watching the Algeana team slump away sadly.  
  
"I'll say," came a deep voice from behind them.  
  
"Oh, hey Tyler," Maddie said, turning around.  
  
Tyler Anderson was definitely a dream guy - he had curly brown hair that many girls desperately wanted to run their fingers through, light-blue eyes that seemed to "see into your soul" as one of his ex-girlfriends claimed, and a grin that "could make you melt" as another ex-girlfriend stated.  
  
"Hey, yourself," he said, grinning broadly. "Did you see me score?"  
  
"Only every single time you did," Hope said. "Other than that, no, we didn't."  
  
"Oh, zip it, you," Tyler said, grinning even bigger. He reached out and pushed her lightly. "You need to be on the team, Lex. You and your 'mad Quidditch skills' would be a great addition to the team."  
  
"Don't call me Lex," Hope said through gritted teeth. "Why does everyone insist on calling me by my first name?"  
  
"Because it's a pretty name," Maddie said lightly. They started walking up to the school.  
  
"It's ugly," Hope said stubbornly.  
  
"What's everyone up at the castle so excited about?" Tyler suddenly asked. He pointed to a cluster of students gathered in front of the main door.  
  
"I dunno. Maybe the Headmaster died," Maddie said, her eyes gleaming wickedly.  
  
"No, if it was that, then all those girls would be crying their eyes out," Hope said distastefully. She didn't have a very high opinion of most of the girls at Tarmenia - too many of them were the blonde-haired, blue-eyed cheerleader type.  
  
They reached the door and fought their way through the preppies so they could read the sign hanging on the door. Most of the students got out of their way quickly - Maddie and Hope weren't two girls that they wanted to mess with, especially not with Tyler around.  
  
"International Exchange Student Program," Tyler read aloud. "Are you interested in spending the next two years in a foreign country? Then sign up to become an exchange student!"  
  
"That sounds kinda fun," Hope said, thinking about how cool it would be to spend a year in, say, France.  
  
"Oooohhh, no you don't," Maddie said firmly. "Hope, you're staying right here in good ole' sunny California."  
  
"Where are the schools at?" Hope asked, ignoring Maddie.  
  
Tyler read her the list.  
  
"Well, I don't think I'd really like to go to Durmstrang, but the other two sound okay," Hope said, debating whether or not she should write to her foster parents and ask if she could go.  
  
"It says see Professor McKenzie for additional info," Tyler said.  
  
"Alexis Hope Matthews!" Maddie said indignantly. "You are NOT going away!"  
  
"Probably not," Hope said, grinning. "But I can dream. And DON'T CALL ME ALEXIS!!" 


	3. Goodbyes are for When You Die

Disclaimer: Bite me.  
  
"Professor McKenzie?" Hope said, entering the Headmaster's office tentatively  
  
"Ah, Alexis," Professor McKenzie said, standing. He paused. "Or do you prefer Hope?"  
  
"It's Hope, sir," Hope said politely. Professor McKenzie pointed at a chair. Hope sat.  
  
"You applied to go to France, correct?" Professor McKenzie asked, sitting behind his desk.  
  
"Yes, I did," Hope said. Oh, I hope I get to go, she thought.  
  
The Headmaster shuffled some papers on his desk. "I'm afraid that the school in France doesn't have any openings left."  
  
Hope's face fell. "Figures," she muttered.  
  
"However," he continued. "However, there is an opening at Hogwarts, the school in Scotland. Perhaps you'd be interested in going there, instead."  
  
"Would I ever!" Hope said, grinning.  
  
"Your guardians have already given you permission, I see," Professor McKenzie said, glancing at the forms again. "You will leave tomorrow and travel to King's Cross Station in London by Floo Powder, then take the Hogwarts Express to the school. Pack your things, Hope - you're going to Scotland."  
  
Hope hurried to her room and started throwing things in her trunk - books, quills, inks, pieces of parchment, her diary, robes, everything went in and Hope didn't really care where. Finally she got everything in, took about ten minutes to close it since it was so full, and used her wand to lock it.  
  
Maddie came in while Hope was closing it (without knocking, as usual), a stony expression on her face.  
  
"Do you ever knock?" Hope asked, slightly out of breath from the effort of closing her trunk, but too excited to be irritated as Maddie.  
  
Maddie didn't answer, simply sat on Hope's bed and watched her for a bit. Finally, she spoke.  
  
"So you're really going," she said.  
  
"Yes, I'm really going," Hope answered shortly. "I've told you that since I applied to go."  
  
"Yeah, but Ty and me didn't think that you were actually serious," Maddie retorted. She sniffed and furiously rubbed her traitorous eyes.  
  
Hope stared. Maddie, showing emotion that wasn't anger or contempt? Not once in a century would Hope have ever believed Maddie capable of showing sadness.  
  
"I'll still write, Mad," she said softly. "And it's not like I'm going away forever. It's only the next two years. And Professor McKenzie said I could come back over vacation."  
  
"Yeah, but it's our last two years here," Maddie protested.  
  
"Aw, Mad," Hope said, getting up and hugging her best friend.  
  
Maddie sniffed again.  
  
"Don't you dare cry," Hope told her sternly. "If you cry, I'll cry, and then we'd both be crying, and that would be waaaaay too out of character for both of us."  
  
Maddie started laughing, then pushed Hope away. "What makes you think I was going to cry?" she asked scornfully.  
  
"Oh, I dunno, only the teary eyes, and the sniffing," Hope teased.  
  
"Shut up. You'd better not forget to write, Alhoma," Maddie said.  
  
"Yeah, yeah," Hope muttered. "As long as you write back, Macaro."  
  
Alhoma and Macaro were their nicknames for each other. They had taken the first two letters of their first, middle, and last names and put them together. Madeline Carol Roberts became Macaro and Alexis Hope Matthews became Alhoma.  
  
"I'll write back," Maddie promised. She turned around and walked out, without saying goodbye. Hope was used to it. Maddie always said that goodbyes were only for people who were dying and there was absolutely no chance of seeing them again - until you died yourself. 


End file.
